Boy burned while handling lime juice because of skin condition

Mom warns of skin disease after son suffers burns while handling lime juice

May 16, 2019 at 11:49 AM CDT - Updated May 17 at 2:54 AM

BRYAN, Tex. (KBTX)- What was supposed to be a fun day selling limeades turned into a medical emergency for Katherine Thompson's 7-year-old son, Bently.

The next day, he woke up with completely red hands.

Thompson said at first, they thought her son’s hands were just sunburned.

"Then he had a blister on one of his knuckles, so we knew it was something more than that,” Thompson said to KBTX.

The family took Bently to three doctors until they found out he had phytophotodermatitis, a skin reaction to a chemical in lime juice that can cause blisters and burns when exposed to the sun.

"They told us he had second-degree burns on his hands, and they wrapped each of his fingers up individually,” says Thompson.

She describes the experience as shocking and very traumatic for their son.

"They told us that if he didn't continue to use his hands and if we hadn't gone to the hospital and had them wrap it up and fix everything there could have been some really bad scarring that could've limited his finger movements and his hand movements,” Thompson said.

This trip, the first of two President Donald Trump is expected to make to Japan in the next six weeks, is more of a social call meant to highlight the alliance between Japan and the United States and the friendship between their leaders.